Cops get help battling ID theft

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, July 6, 1999

1999-07-06 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA -- It seemed like Tony Madrid was always one bad check ahead of authorities.

Local and federal investigators say they chased the suspect across San Francisco for more than three months, finding only his trail - littered with fake IDs, counterfeit postal keys and discarded disguises, authorities alleged.

Then, a couple of working stiffs from Office Depot got on the case.

And after one phone call to police, the U.S. postal inspector's most wanted man in San Francisco was behind bars.

As identity theft crimes increase throughout the Bay Area, authorities have found themselves relying on the kindness of strangers to help catch their most elusive suspects. Retail employees, business owners and mail fraud victims themselves have all been instrumental in a recent streak that has put several of the accused behind bars.

"It's really rare that a law enforcement officer is there when a crime happens," said U.S. postal inspector's spokeswoman Linda Joe. "Sometimes, a citizen has to take the next step."

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Identity thieves can be extremely destructive as they use discarded or stolen financial information to fill another person's shoes, then run up their bills. A spending spree that takes a few hours can devastate a credit record for years.

Experts say the number of victims doubles every year. Many are fighting back:

*Sales clerks at a Hayward mall tipped off police, leading to the arrests last month of two East Bay residents suspected of running a counterfeit check ring.

*An identity fraud suspect is facing a federal prison sentence after employees at Cliff's Variety hardware store in the Castro District made their own "wanted" posters and distributed them to other businesses.

Both incidents demonstrate that the public is becoming frustrated with the crime, which can make victims out of customers, merchants and banks all at once.

Public gets fed up&lt;

"We were getting burned, we knew our fellow merchants were getting burned," said Cliff's Variety manager Martha Asten. "Pretty soon you get pissed off and want to do something about it."

Asten and fellow employee Eric Evans took action after suspecting the same man had written bad checks at their store at least four times, using four different names.

Asten and Evans got a picture of the man and distributed it to other Castro and Market street merchants. The suspect, John Santner, pleaded guilty last week to possession of stolen mail and will be sentenced July 21, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Gonzales.

Madrid's run from the law kept authorities bouncing around San Francisco like a pinball, just missing the fugitive at his parents' home, the Sheraton Palace Hotel and Stonestown Mall, according to court records.

The closest anyone got to him was a mall security guard who said he'd let Madrid walk off, but found the car he was allegedly using, a sports-utility vehicle that was rented under a false name, according to a court affidavit filed by Postal Inspector Andrew Wong. Inside, authorities said, they found a crack pipe, brass knuckles, a U.S. Postal Service uniform and the contents of a mailbox from Ninth Avenue and Judah Street, the affidavit alleges.

Suspect's luck runs out&lt;

Madrid was finally stopped in his tracks after the postal inspector's office started distributing "wanted" posters with his picture to retail electronics stores that identity thieves favor.

According to Wong's affidavit, Madrid was almost brought in by the Good Guys on May 7, when clerks at a Stonestown outlet recognized him and called police.

One week later, he was arrested at Office Depot on Harrison Street, where authorities say he tried to purchase more than $700 in items under a false name, but was spotted by an alert manager and sales clerk.

Madrid, in jail, is set to enter his plea later this week. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Even if Madrid did everything he's accused of, authorities say getting him behind bars while he awaits trial will not stop identity fraud in San Francisco.

"Tony Madrid is a mid-level criminal," said San Francisco Police Inspector Earl Wismer. "He's good at what he does, but he's not the top dog."

New crime wave&lt;

Authorities say identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation, in equal parts because of advanced technology, increased ease in obtaining credit and weak laws that can't keep convicted identity thieves off the street.

"Five years ago, we had 10 (identity theft-related police reports) per month; now, we have 10 per day," Wismer said.

Authorities say they're lucky if they can investigate 10 percent of the reports they receive, making tips from store employees and careful record-keeping by victims all the more important to secure a conviction.

With "no teeth" in identity fraud laws, Wismer says suspects go through a revolving door, sometimes getting back on the streets quickly after multiple convictions.

Investigators say they made one recent arrest at Neiman Marcus, finding an identity theft suspect who was on supervised release with an electronic bracelet on her ankle from a previous conviction.

She promptly bailed out again.

No jail time&lt;

"Quite frankly, with this type of case, the problem is nobody does any jail time," said Inspector Philip Dito.

"When you hear about the Sheriff's Department letting people out early - these are those people."

Joe says Postal Inspector Wong has made fighting identity theft a priority. Once known as the "silent service" as the FBI made headlines, the postal inspector's office is trying to maintain a higher profile, even consulting on a Showtime movie based on identity theft, she says.

"We want people to be confident that when they drop their mail in that little blue box, it's going to reach its destination," Joe said. &lt;